TT racer Johnson secures good result despite 'difficult' return to short circuits
After racing at the 2012 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy, Gary Johnson admitted he found adapting to the Knockhill short circuit difficult.
However, the TT winner still managed to bring his Samsung Honda machine home 8th in the National Superstock 1000cc race on Sunday.
Johnson, from Broughton near Brigg, was returning to short circuits for the first time since the TT, qualifying didn’t go quite to plan, leaving him sitting in 18th for the start of the race.
A good started saw Johnson up to 13th at the end of the lap one, and a strong ride saw him progress through the field, reaching 7th on lap 17 of 24.
On lap 20 he dropped to 8th as Howie Mainwaring moved past, and while Johnson stayed with his rival he was unable to take the position back, settling for 8th at the flag.
A haul of 8 points moved Johnson to 13th in the championship standings.
Johnson admitted adapting to the short Knockill circuit after the TT had been difficult.
He said:
“To go from flat out over the length of the TT to coming here where the track length is only 50 seconds or so in length is very different. It takes a bit of adjusting to!”
“I had missed a few rounds this season with the road races so I am always a little behind, but we made some big steps forward and it was great to give the Samsung Honda team a top 10 finish.”
Team Manager Havier Beltran added:
“Gary improved throughout the weekend to score a strong finish on his return with the team.”